On The Road from Dublin

I have been getting money from the ATM at the Dublin General Store for almost 10 years. Yesterday I went down the hill to the store for lunch, took my ATM card out of its wallet, went to stick it into the machine. And the machine wasn’t there.

The store is undergoing spring renovations, and part of this is a new, smaller, private-label ATM machine inside the store, which replaces the old outdoor Granite Bank model out on the porch.

I’m not sure I’m reacting well to this change.

I did have a very nice short stack of blueberry pancakes this morning, and I went all out and upped for the “pure” maple syrup, which costs an extra $1.25 more than the “generic” maple syrup. Was there ever any question?

The Jack Daniels Motor Inn, where I’m staying this week, is under new management. The most obvious evidence is that they now have 79 channels on the cable TV, and they offer a free sample of Tom’s of Maine toothpaste to all guests. Otherwise, alas, the place still feels like it was constructed as a temporary shelter for the road crew 15 years ago.

It’s chilly here, but in a spring kind of way.

Comments

Robert  Paterson's picture
Robert Paterson on April 8, 2004 - 20:12 Permalink

Sounds like your trip is starting to feel a bit of a strain. I am off home after 2 weeks tomorrow and so look forward to not being on the road

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on April 9, 2004 - 02:35 Permalink

Robert: no, trip is not a strain.

Yes, it is hard to be away from Catherine and Oliver. And a little disconcerting to be away from the home pod.

But travel has its benefits: people, places, food, ideas.

Last night and tonight I had dinner with real live everyday Americans; this is a great learning experience, not only for the obvious (sofa vs. chesterfield), but also to learn the real non-media-intermediated story of our similarities and differences.

The advantage I have here in southern New Hampshire over you and your travels to York in Toronto is that here everything is still vaguely exotic and new (even after 10 years) whereas I expect that working at York, in Ontario, is like travelling to an all-too-familiar prison work farm, even if the people and work are interesting. Frankly, I’d rather eat glass than to have to travel to Ontario for work.

I guess that makes me a self-hating Ontarian.

Robert  Paterson's picture
Robert Paterson on April 10, 2004 - 00:48 Permalink

I think that you are on to something. It’s the routine in TO that I find depressing. A real journey is a quest where everything is new